Our school is helping all students develop the world class skills and life and career characteristics of the Profile of the Graduate. The vision of St. James Elementary, Supporting the Journey to Excellence, continues to predicate all that we seek to do each day. Faculty and staff worked collaboratively to provide students with an engaging, nurturing, and safe learning environment. St. James Elementary was chosen as a Year Two Education Elements School. Teachers applied high yield instructional strategies to his/her planning and executed innovative, engaging lessons. Using formative and summative assessments, teachers reflected on student learning, monitored the learning as appropriate, and made necessary adjustments accordingly. All teachers conducted learning walks. We continued to encourage our students to take advantage of district-wide technology programs designed to differentiate and to personalize instruction. As a result of these efforts, coupled with the support of parents and community, our students made extraordinary gains. We saw percentile increases of targeted growth goals in the area of reading as measured by MAP assessments and DIBELS. Additionally, an overwhelming majority of students in grades two through four celebrated success in meeting one or more targeted growth goals in all areas of MAP assessments.
In addition to academic gains, we celebrated collective and individual successes. Four St. James Elementary students earned awards in this year's Horry County Schools Technology Fair. Bailey Miller proudly represented St. James Elementary School as an Horry County Schools Reel Kid. Kayleigh Vanlandingham, art teacher, was selected to give a presentation at the 2019 National Art Convention. Kayleigh Vanlandingham was selected as our Teacher of the Year, and Rhonda Ammons earned the distinction of Support Staff Member of the Year.
St. James Elementary recognizes the value of giving back to the community. It was with this altruistic mindset that we contributed time and other resources to multiple community organizations. Through various service learning projects, students were able to support the missions of local food banks, veterans' organizations, the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, the American Heart Association, Relay for Life, Fostering Hope, Thrive Assisted Living, Coastal Animal Rescue, the Ronald McDonald House, and Help 4 Kids. We also raised funds to purchase a water well in Liberia, West Africa through African Heartland Organization.
St. James Elementary values opportunities for our students to learn and to grow outside of the classroom. It is our belief that creating opportunities to try new things and to discover new talents help to develop the whole child. We provided these opportunities through various clubs, partnerships, and school sponsored events. St. James Middle School's Stop Club, a bullying prevention club, partnered with our school to provide weekly reading sessions with primary students. Autism Awareness Day was celebrated throughout our building. Representatives from Pinnacle Financial partnered with our special needs students to celebrate Incredible Kid Day. We celebrated our school and community members during National Kindness Week in March. St. James Elementary's partnership with Circle K's Fueling Our Schools initiative continued to provide additional resources for school-wide incentives.
Our school-sponsored clubs included: Junior Beta Club, Technology Club, Archery Club, Art Buddies, Mural Club, Mock Trial-Drama Club, Sew Awesome Club, Good Morning Club, Dolphin Council (Student Council) and Morning Reading Club. Community sponsored clubs included: Girls on the Run, the St. James Elementary Golf Squad, the Good News Club, and the . Our school sponsored events included: Fall Family Art Night, Family Game Night, Grandparents' Breakfast, Hurricane Florence/Flood Days Book Drives and Mobile Food Distribution, Faith and Fellowship Breakfast, Family Literacy Night, Veterans' Day Celebration, Boosterthon Fun Run, National Day of Code, Digital Learning Day, Annual Talent Show, Holly Jolly Extravaganza, Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, Reading Intervention Night, Family Art Night, Royal Ball, Mother's Day Muffins, Service Vehicle Day, and Career Day. For the second consecutive year, St. James Elementary Junior Beta Club members participated and competed in the South Carolina Junior Beta Club Convention. Three students took home awards in the Junior Beta Club academic competitions, and our students placed in the talent competition. Four St. James Elementary School students were chosen to participate in the prestigious Art Fields Junior Competition in Lake City, South Carolina.
Our success this year was the result of teamwork with all stakeholders. St. James Elementary is supported by our School Improvement Council, PTA, parents, volunteers, community members, and business partners. The mission of St. James Elementary, a richly diverse community of learners committed to a tradition of academic and personal excellence, is to ensure that our children are fully prepared to be productive participants in a constantly changing world through personalized, progressive learning which develops self-motivation, high expectations, life skills, and the lifelong pursuit of learning. We are proud of our success in achieving this mission and welcome each new school year with the opportunity to be the best one yet.
Felisa McDavid, Principal Shawn Seward, School Improvement Council Chairperson 2018 - 2019
